Sci-fi novels inspire environmentally themed exhibition

THE BEST science-fiction writers do not just write about fantastical worlds in far flung galaxies, their work, be it that of HG Wells, Philip K Dick, or Arthur C Clarke, reflects on the contemporary world, and looks deeply at how technology and society may develop in the future.

The alternate histories and speculative futures described in science fiction, particularly late 19th and early 20th century sci-fi, is the inspiration for Terrain, a new exhibition by British-Irish artist Martin Healy which runs at the Galway Arts Centre in July as part of the Galway International Arts Festival.

Martin works primarily through film and photography. Drawing on sci-fi, his work considers the points where fact and fiction have collided, and how much sci-fi has prefigured the current realities of environmental problems and the depletion of resources, leading his work to examine the conflicts and consequences of humans' need to harness the physical world.

Born in London, Martin grew up in Galway and went on to receive a BA and MA from Crawford College of Art & Design. He is currently based in Dublin and lectures in the Limerick School of Art and Design. His solo exhibitions include Aether, Oonagh Young Gallery (2014 ); The Inhabitant, Temple Bar Gallery & studios (2011 ); Facsimile, Lismore Castle Arts, St Carthage Hall (2011 ); Skywatcher, Roscommon Arts Centre (2008 ), and I Want To Believe, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2007 ). He has recently exhibited in Cosmic Dust, a group exhibition curated by Emma Lucy O’Brien in VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow.

Terrain runs from July 13 to 26 with the official opening on Wednesday 15 at 6pm. The exhibition will be accompanied by a new text by Dr Dara Waldron, lecturer in critical and contextual studies at the Limerick School of Art & Design. See also www.martinhealy.net and www.giaf.ie